Freight car wall bracket



1960 R. 'r. COLLINS ET AL 2,965,346

FREIGHT CAR WALL BRACKET Filed March 3, 1958 IN VEN TORS ATTORNEY United States Patent FREIGHT CAR WALL BRACKET Roy T. Collins, St. Clair Shores, and Edward Ta zaia, East Detroit, Mich., assignors to General Moe rs Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 718,555 Claims. (or 248 223 This invention relates to supporting means for loadcarrying'members and more particularly to brackets for supporting longitudinal cross rails in a storage space.

In many instances storage areas and freight cars are used for storing or transporting relatively fiat parts, such as vehicle floor pans or the like. In order to provide maximum utilization of the space, the parts are stored in a vertical position and nested between the freight car side walls. The walls of the storage rooms or freight cars are seldom supplied with properly spaced members to support the parts being stored, and longitudinal cross tails are commonly used. Proper support for these cross rails has presented many difficulties in the past, in obtainlng the correct horizontal and vertical positioning to best utilize the space available, and in adapting the storage space to different sized and different shaped parts. A particular difliculty encountered in freight cars is the twisting action caused by the stored parts when the freight car is bumped on attaching the car to a train.

The device in which this invention is embodied comprises a bracket for supporting cross rails, adjustable to a great number of positions, mounted on the wall of the storage area or freight car. This bracket allows for the storage of a maximum number of parts, the storage of different parts in one space, and for easily adapting the space to different sized or different shaped parts. Thus maximum utilization of the space is obtained at all times. The bracket is mounted such that acting forces, as the weight of the parts on the longitudinal cross member, are in the same plane as the mounting points, preventing the possibility of twisting when a freight car, having the brackets mounted therein, is impacted or bumped.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the interior of a freight car having the bracket attached to a side wall thereof.

Figure 2 is an elevation view of the bracket shown in Figure 1 attached to one kind of freight car wall.

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the bracket of Figure 1 in which the bracket is mounted in another type of freight car wall.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a freight car wall having commonly used rails 11 mounted on the wall, each rail having a plurality of holes 12 spaced a short dIstance apart, such as two inches, along the length of the rail. The rails are commonly mounted in wall brackets 13 on the wall of the freight car, and are permanently attached. The bracket assembly is illustrated generally at 14, mounted in the rails 11. A pair of brackets support a longitudinal cross member, or cross rail, 15 on which are stacked the parts being stored.

The bracket, shown more clearly in Figures 2 and 3, consists of a horizontal plate member 16 having a plurality of holes 17 through the surface of the plate, the holes being spaced a short distance apart, such as two inches, along either side of the surface of the plate. The longitudinal cross rails 15 are adapted to engage the perforationsin the horizontal plate 16 to securely hold the cross rail. A vertical support member 18 is welded to a flange 19 which, in turn, is welded to the horizontal plate 16. Also attached to the plate, as by welding, is a latch member 20 having projections 21 engageable in any one of the holes 12 in the supporting surface or rail 11. Attached to the plate 16 at its outward end is a support arm 22 extending downwardly and rearwardly to the vertical support member to which it is also attached, as by welding. A lock arm 23 is slidably en gaged around the adjacent sections of the support arm 22 and the vertical support member 18, and has a hook shaped locking section 24 engageable in any one of the holes 12 in the rails 11. A retaining plate 25, welded to the bottom of the support arm 22, serves to keep the lock arm from falling off the bracing structure when the bracket is disengaged from the rails 11. I In mounting the wall bracket of Figure 2, the projection 21 of the latch member 20 is placed in any of the holes 12 in the rails 11 and the locking portion 24 of the lock arm 23 is engaged in the hole immediately below the hole in which the latch member is engaged, to prevent any rotation of the bracket when a load is placed on the horizontal plate member. The hook shape of the locking portion of the lock arm makes the lock arm readily engageable in one of the rail holes and prevents the lock arm from jolting loose.

Figure 3 shows another commonly used freight car wall section 26 which has a plurality of slots 27 spaced a short distance apart, vertically and horizontally along the wall section. In order to use the bracket in this type of wall section, the lock arm 23 has a second locking portion 28, on the opposite end from the lock portion 24, which has flanges 29 and 30 thereon. In mounting the bracket in this type of wall section the bracket is turned through so that the latch 20 will pass through a slot 27, and is then returned to the vertical position. The latch will thereby prevent the bracket from pulling out of the perforated side wall. The lock arm is then engaged in a corresponding perforation below that engaging the latch member by passing first one fiange and then the other through the perforation. Again the bracket is prevented from rotating when a load is applied to the horizontal p'ate member.

What is claimed is:

l. A bracket for a load-carrying member in a storage space comprising a plate member adapted to extend from a wall of said storage space and having attaching means for engaging a load-carrying member, latch means attached to said plate member and engageable in said storage space wall, bracing means depending from and secured to said plate member and including a support member extending from said plate member and an arm extending from said plate member to said support member, and a lock arm engageable about said bracing means and movable along a portion of the length of said member and receivable in a plurality of locations in said storage space wall at a position spaced from said latch means to prevent rotation of said bracket when a load is applied thereto.

2. A bracket for supporting a longitudinal cross rail on a freight car wall comprising a horizontally disposed plate member extending outwardly from said wall, attaching means for a cross rail in said plate member, latch means attached to said plate member for removably securing said bracket to said freight car wall, support means depending from and secured to said plate member and including a vertical support member and an angularly disposed support arm, and a lock arm engageable about said support means and movable along the length thereof to permit selective positioning of said lock arm in said freight car wall, said lock arm being securable in said.

. 3 freight car wall at a position spaced from said latch means to prevent rotation ofsaid bracket when a load is applied thereto.

3. A wall bracket for supporting a longitudinal cross member in'a'storage space comprising a horizontally dis-' adjacent portions and movable therealong to any of a plurality of positions and having a lockingportion on either end adapted to be engaged in different types of freight car side walls below said plate lock member to prevent rotation of said bracket when a load is applied thereto.

5. A load carrying bracket comprising a plate member and a support member depending therefrom and secured thereto and adapted to extend from a supporting means,

plurality of positions, said lock arm having a locking portion engageable in the outward wall of said storage space to prevent rotation of said bracket when a load is applied thereto.

4. A bracket for supporting a longitudinal cross member on a freight car wall comprising a horizontally disposedplate member having means for attaching across member therein, a latch member attached to said plate member and engageable in any one of a plurality of openings in said freight car wall to provide a plurality of positions of said bracket on said wall, a vertical support member attached to said plate member at the rear thereof, a support arm attached to the forward part of said plate and attached to said vertical support member, said support arm and said vertical support member being adjacent for a portion of their length, and a lock arm around said support arm and said vertical support member at the latch means attached to said members and engageable in said supporting means, and a lock arm engaging said support member and movable along a portionof the length of said support member to permit engagement of said lock arm in any of a plurality of positions in said supporting means, all of said positions being spaced from the position of engagement between said latch means and said supporting means to prevent rotation of said bracket when a load is applied thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 889,962 Peschel June 9, 1908 1,444,759 Traylor Feb. 6, 1923 2,268,394 Hebert Dec. 30, 1941 2,725,826 Tobin Dec. 6, 1955 2,741,449 Heselov Apr. 10, 1956 2,859,008 Zimmer Nov. 4, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 414,757 Great Britain Aug. 10, 1934 

